The Scottish long-life riddle: how going north of the border could help you live in good health longer after all

It is known for having the shortest average life expectancy in the UK on most measures.

But new official figures suggest that those looking for a long and healthy retirement should consider moving to Scotland.

Analysis published by the Office for National Statistic shows that while life expectancy from birth in Scotland still lags behind the rest of the country, the prospects for those who live to pension age are dramatically different.

The estimates based on a range of official data from the period between 2010 and 2012 show that 65-year-olds in Scotland can expect to enjoy good health longer than anywhere else in the UK.

It comes despite a dramatic divide in prospects between north and south as well as rich and poor areas within the same regions.

Those in some areas are likely to enjoy up to 15 years more of full health than those in the most deprived neighbourhoods, the ONS calculates.

Overall, a typical British boy born between 2010 and 2012 could expect to live 80.3 per cent of their life, or 63.2 years, in good or excellent health.

A girl of the same age could look forward to well over a year longer in good health, 64.6 years on average - although proportionally less of their life, 78.2 per cent.

In Scotland “health expectancy” at birth is close to the UK average for boys, at 63.1 years, and ahead of it for girls, at 65.2 years.

But for those who survive to pension age, Scotland opens a clear lead for both men and women.

A 65-year-old man in Scotland could typically look forward to 9.3 years of good or excellent health, the equivalent of about two and a half months more than the rest of the UK and roughly five weeks more than their English counterparts.

For the women the difference is more stark, with 10.2 years of good or excellent health to look forward to in Scotland, compared to a UK average of 9.6 years. It amounts to a difference of just over seven months.

Differences in education, employment opportunities, lifestyle behaviours, social mobility and the wider local environment all have a major impactJodie Withers, ONS

Unlike in the rest of the UK, personal and nursing care in Scotland is available free to anyone over 65 who is assessed as needing it.

However, although Scots can expect to enjoy good health in retirement for longer, overall life expectancy at 65 was still below the UK average at 19.4 years for women, compared with 20.8 across the UK, and 17.1 years for men, instead of 18.4.

Jodie Withers, an ONS statistician specialising in health and life expectancy said: “There is large variation in how many years people can expect to live in good health across the UK.

“Differences in education, employment opportunities, lifestyle behaviours, social mobility and the wider local environment all have a major impact with males and females in some parts of the UK living 14.1 years and 15.0 years longer in ‘very good or good’ health than others.”